Prize Recipient

Homer Alfred Neal
University of Michigan

Citation:

"For his significant contributions to experimental high energy physics, for his important role in formulating governmental science policy, for his service as a university administrator at several universities, and for his advocacy of diversity and educational opportunity at all levels."

Background:

Homer A. Neal is the Samuel A. Goudsmit Professor of Physics at the University of Michigan. He received his undergraduate degree with honors from Indiana University in 1961, and his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Michigan in 1966. He has served as Provost at the State University of New York at Stony Brook (1981-86), as Dean for Research and Graduate Development at Indiana University (1976-81), and at the University of Michigan as Physics Department Chair, Vice President for Research and Interim President.

His research area is experimental high energy physics and he is currently conducting research at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics. Neal also participates in the DZERO collaboration that in 1995 announced the discovery of the top quark. He has led many experiments that have elucidated the nature of spin effects in high energy particle interactions, including proton-proton elastic scattering, electron-positron scattering and in various inclusive hadronic reactions.

Neal has served as a Regent of the Smithsonian Institution and on advisory boards for several national laboratories. He has been a member of the National Science Board, served as Chairman of the NSF Physics Advisory Committee, and has delivered testimony on numerous occasions to Congress.

He is a recipient of a Sloan Foundation Fellowship, the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, the Stony Brook Medal, and the Indiana University Distinguished Alumni Service Award. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.